Stinky doesn't know
by Mastermindhunter
Summary: A new girl is attending P.S. 118. Stinky has a great friendship with her. Arnold has made friends with her, along with her mother at the boarding house, but will Stinky have the courage to face what's yet to come? Stink at summaries.
1. New girl

Stinky doesn't know ch. 1

by

Mastermindhunter

It was a normal day in the city. The city bus was full of it's normal load of children, on their way to P.S. 118. The heavy air, and roaring traffic was enough to cause anyone to be utterly lost, if they didn't know their way. The urban bus was full of many students. They had been people that Arnold had known pretty much his whole life. Gerald was listening to some nice smooth Jazz through his headphones, Harold had been obnoxiously laughing over something that brainy had done, Helga and Pheobe were talking about wrestlemania or something like that, Rhonda was fixing her hair in a mirror, Sid was messing with his boots, Stinky was sittig by himself looking out at the streets, and Lila was looking more gorgeous than ever.

Everything signaled that it would be a normal day but Arnold noticed a pretty young lady his age, sitting in the back alone. She was a bit on the skinny and scrawny side, and not too tall. She was Sid's height at tallest, if not shorter. Her hair was dark brown,and down to her back. Her skin was plenty pale, and bright. Her eyes were sort of large and expressive. A small backpack, to her side. She started putting a few books in her backpack, along with some pencils, but suddenly she stopped, and seemed to be staring off into space, as if she was completely out of it. She was like that for at least thirty seconds. As if by reflex, she stared right at Arnold, noticing he was staring. She smiled lightly. It was barely even noticable to be a smile. Arnold didn't want to be seen staring since it seemed a bit too rude. After she spotted him, the blank stares had dissappeared, and she was putting things into her bag as normal. He hadn't said anything, till the bus got to school. The halls were full of the children that had always been there. There was no sign of the staring bus girl. Perhaps she had already gotten to class. Everybody walked into their assigned classes as they did on a normal day. In Mr. Simmons class, the students had been shouting about until Mr. Simmons had come into the room.

"Alright class. Settle down, please." He smiled to the class in his usual cheerfull facade. "I would like to introduce everyone to a very special new student. She has moved here all the way from Arkansas. Now I want everyone to give a warm welcome to little miss Abbigale Ashby." Mr. Simmons pointed in the back of the class. When Arnold saw her sitting down, he recognized her as the same girl that he saw on the bus. The look on her face said she was extremely shy, and that she wasn't planning on making too many friends right away. A red blush spread on her cheeks, as she looked around the class. "Abbigale, would you like to stand up, and introduce yourself to the class?" Mr. Simmons held his hands together showing a subliminal pleading gesture. A look of nervousness showed up on her face.

Stinky saw her stand up, and was instantly interested in the new kid. She was simply stunning. Her hair was very pretty, and her eyes were especially shining. She was very short and wirey, but he didn't mind that much. She was still very cute.

She stood up, and slowly walked to the front of the class. She was such a shy kid. Mr. Simmons sat back down in his teachers desk, and watched her introduce herself. He laced his fingers, smiling lightly hoping to not make her feel too much pressure. She cleared her throat, and looked at everyone. "Hello my name is umm Abbigale. I'm from Arkansas, and it feels great to be here. If you want, you can call me Abby" She smiled, with a small whisper.

"Hey, I think I heard of somebody being from that same state. It sounds a little bit like where stinky's family came from." Sid pointed out. He turned towards Stinky. "Isn't your family from Arkansas, Stinky?" As a matter of fact it was true his family was! She looked down obviously nervous, and marched back to her desk, a bit faster than she walked up to the class. She sat there trying to listen to Mr. Simmon's lecture on animals, and how some animals can breath through their skin. It was certainly interesting when Abbigale was writing down notes. Right in the middle of Mr. Simmons lecture on permiable skin, Arnold noticed that she had a blank stare like she had on the bus earlier that day. He noticed that Abby had a bad habit of staring for about half a minute. And just as fast as it appeared, it was gone, and she was back to taking her notes.

In no time the lunch bell rang. She walked with the rest of the class, heading to the cafeteria. On her way out, with everybody else, she accidentally bumped into the school nurse, in the door frame. She gasped in surprise, and quickly picked up her books, apoligizing to the nurse with honesty in her voice. "Oh that's quite alright dear." She crouched down to talk to her. "Listen, Abbigale. Can I talk to you, with Mr. Simmons?" She asked calmly.

"What are we going to talk about?" She asked innocently. The nurse whispered into her ear, and then Abbigale got red, and nodded once. They both walked into the room, and closed the door behind themselves. Arnold noticed this, and was going to ask what was going on, but he didn't think it very polite to get involved. The only thing he heard was from Mr. Simmons saying, "Oh my! I'm sorry to hear that!"

She had arrived to the lunchroom very swiftly, considering that she had been new, and was held up in Mr. Simmons room. It seemed that whatever was being discussed was something she didn't want to bring out to the peers around her. Rhonda and Nadine whispered to each other. "Hmm that girl is hiding something, I think. What a weirdo." Rhonda breathed into Nadine's ear. Everybody watched her walk into the lunch room, without a word. She looked nervous as she walked around. Stinky laid his sandwhich down, and looked around. Rhonda and Nadine were sitting at a table nearby. It was the closest table near her. She smiled, and sat her lunch box down slowly letting them know that she was about to sit down. Rhonda sneered, and looked at her disgusted.

"Umm hello what do you think you're doing?" Abbigale pulled her lunch box back faster than it was set down. "I am the most popular girl in school, and definitely don't want to be seen with the likes of the new girl. It's instant reputation murder." She crossed her arms, and looked away. "I'm sorry, but you're going to have to find somewhere else to sit."

Abbigale looked down, and sighed. "I understand. I'm sorry for your troubles." She looked around for tables, as Stinky got upset with Rhonda. Abbigale didn't do anything to them. He decided that there was no trouble inviting her. She didn't bite. He waved over her to come on over, and have seat.

"Hey yo Abby. Have yerself a seat here!" Every face turned towards Stinky, then at the new girl. Abbigale looked aroound to see if anybody else went by the name of Abby. It seemed that nobody else went by the same name as her, so it seemed that it was alright to head on over. She knew every set of eyes were set on her. She sat down with a lump in her throat. The lump dissappeared when Stinky gave her a comforting smile. She smiled back, and opened her lunch box. Inside was a yahoo soda, with pretzels, an apple, and a turkey sandwhich.

"Wilikers! You got yerself I mighty fine choice of lunch today." She looked inside at her foods, and gently poured them onto the table. A small smile formed on her face.

"Actually we just got these foods from the convienient store. We are staying in a hotel, until we can find someplace to stay." She said with sigh. Stinky stared into her eyes, enjoying the company of a new friend to spend time with.

He nodded. "Oh I see what yer saying. Gosh having no home must really bite. Well on such short notice, it seems like you still managed to get a good meal for the first day." He smiled. She giggled, and smiled back to him. "Ahh I see a smile, there. That's what you needed. A smile for the first day." He stared at her for a while, and cleared his throat. "So where do you think you'll be staying here in town?" He looked at her with a bit of interest.

She thought long and hard. "Well it's a bit hard remembering the name of that place that I'm staying. I think it's called the sunset arms boarding house." She said before taking a bite of her sandwhich.

Stinky's face looked surprised. "Hot Dog! I know where that is. One of the boys that's in our class has grandparents that own that place. I'm tellin ya Abby, you sure are a swell gal to talk to! I can see ya'll and me becomin great friends." They ate their food and talked to each other. Somewhere in the conversation, Stinky had questioned why she had moved to the town of Hillwood.

She got a bit paler than she already was, and looked down. "Well my mother and I were really swell farmers, but later on we ran into financial troubles, and . . . well to put it in plain and simple, " She rubbed her shoulder shyly. "We're just plain poor right now." Stinky's face dropped to one of sheer pity.

"Awww I recon that really bites. I hope things get better along the longer you stay here." She smiled and reached for her apple, but when she looked it was gone. She looked, and saw a large boy alot taller than herself had taken the apple away.

"Hey look everybody! I took the new girls apple! AAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! "He laughed annoyingly. He ate the crisp apple in an instant. Stinky knew that was totally unfair, and would probably try to get back at Harold later. Harold walked away, and Abby just sulked in her chair, and huffed an annoyed huff. Stinky looked to the side, and had an idea. He grabbed an apple out of his brown bag, and held it up to her with a smile.

"Here you go. I recon you are still a bit hungry, so here, have my apple." She was quite surprised, and grasped the apple. "I know it's a green one, and the other one is red, but please eccept it." Stinky smiled. She looked at it, her reflection almost shining in the apple's coat. She looked back up at Stinky, and smiled back at him.

"Thank you. I'm glad I got the chance to meet you Stinky." After the lunch she went back to class, but first drank at the water fountain.

Stinky watched her drink the water, and afterwards watched her walk back to Mr. Simmons room. All he could honestly think to say was "Gosh!"


	2. The boarding house

Stinky doesn't know ch. 2

by

Mastermindhunter

After lunch, the students all went back to their rooms. Abbigale had walked back to the class with a smile on her face. She looked so happy to meet a person who's parents were from the same place as her. The school's bell was a bit sensetive to her delicate ears. She wasn't used to loud noises, being from the country, and she wasn't used to anything that was here in the city, but she would subconciously adjust, and feel more at home the longer she stayed. Still she wouldn't forget the simplicity of Arkansas. She walked back to class, and the school nurse was walking out of the classroom. Mr. Simmons had a peice of paper that had a list of sentances. They seemed to be numbered, as though they were instructions. He looked a bit like he was under stress or pressure. As soon as he saw Abbigale come through the door, he stopped her.

"Oh umm, Abbigale? Can I talk to you?" Mr. Simmons walked over to her. "The school nurse gave me instructions, and I want to tell you. If this happens, you can trust me to help you, alright?" She smiled, and Mr. Simmons hugged her close. She smiled widely, but the other students didn't notice, since they were too busy conversing with each other. She sat down, and opened her book. "Okay class. We're going to be studying social studies, and Geography." He glanced at Abbigale. "Well, Abbigale, since I know you have none of our work, I guess it seems fair to pair you up with a student, I suppose." He said with a smile. "Now who would like to help Abbigale with our lesson." Stinky's arm shot up, faster than anybody else's. Mr. Simmons casted a suspicious smile.

"Oh me, Mr. Simmons! I can help her just fine!" He was waving rather crazily, and excitedly.

Mr. Simmons nodded, and agreed. "Well if you think that you are able to help her, then I say that is great." He let them sit with each other. She sat next to the cheerful Stinky, and smiled, knowing that she now found the perfect friend to ask for help, and to sit with. Stinky looked up at the board, and opened the book at the right page.

He cleared his throat. "Now let's see here." He said quietly. For some reason he couldn't focuse with her watching. "Ah here we are. Right here. We start at the number one, and we go down to answer seven. Right here." He pointed at the second to last answer on the text book page. She looked at it, and interupted.

"Well what about answer eight. Do we ignore it?" She looked at it confusingly.

He nodded with agreement. "Yep. You see that's the fun of having a understanding teacher. They don't make you have to do all the hard stuff, all the time. Nope just do the problems here, and here. Don't worry about this one." He laid his hand on the problem, but found out she hadn't moved her hand yet. Stinky felt her soft hands, and for a moment hadn't known if she would get angry, or like it. As it turned out she blushed, and pulled her hand back after a moment, smiling.

On the bus, Abbigale was staring at a peice of paper that had the adress of the sunset arms boarding house. Quite honestly she had no clue where it was, but she had taken the same bus from the hotel, so she thought it could take her to this boarding house. Her mother said that the bus driver would know. When she showed him the paper earlier, he said he would tell her. Still she was a bit nervous. Up near the front of the bus, there was a blond boy with a footbal shaped head. She recognized him from her class, and figured he would know what to do. She got up, and sprinted over to his seat. He was sitting next to a boy who had rather tall hair. She sat down comfortably, and the boy smiled.

"Oh, hi. You're the new girl, aren't you? Abby right?" He held out his hand to shake. "My name's Arnold." She shook warmly, and responded.

"Yes. I noticed that you were in my class, and I wanted to ask you. Could you possibly maybe tell me where this place is?" She showed him the paper.

He noticed that the adress on the paper was the adress of the boarding house. "Oh! I know where this is. My grandparents own this place. Sure. If you want, I could walk you there. When you see me get off of the bus, I'll tell you to follow me." She smiled, and they sat together, for a while. "So who's moving in with you?"

Abbigale stuck her books in her bag, and smiled. "It's nobody else. Just me and my mother. My father no longer lives with us, because of, well, certain reasons. My mother looks dead end like me. She usually gets nervous when I go to school, but perhaps going to a big urban school will make her feel more at ease, and possibly make her feel more comfortable. More comfortable." She repeated. She trailed off, and her smile faded. She was quiet for a while, and stared at the back of the seat that was infront of them. Her eyes held a blank stare for about ten seconds. She looked up at him, and quickly blinked at her surroundings. "Oh I'm sorry. What was that?" She grinned.

Gerald looked at her, as if he had seen her go insane. Arnold looked at Gerald a bit concerned. "Umm pardon, but I didn't say anything."

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I thought you said something." She held her hand up to her forehead, and closed her eyes. A hot blush of embarrasement arose on her cheeks. Arnold felt as if something had been going on. These blank stares, and losses of reality didn't seem right. Maybe he should walk her into the boarding house, and make sure she could make it through the front door. The bus went along the streets of Hillwood. When the bus stopped at a corner, Arnold had stood up. She figured she was there. They had walked out of the bus together. Half way at the front, she spotted Stinky, and he had spotted her.

He smiled and waved goodbye to Abbigale. "I see y'all later, Abby." She smiled back and waved. Arnold had noticed that, and it had occoured to him that she and Stinky had sat at the same table today, and that they had been working together in geography. Perhaps Stinky and Abby had become good friends. Arnold Gerald, and Abby had walked to the sunset arms boarding house, Arnold keeping a close eye on Abby. Gerald and Arnold had been talking as Abby had been close by, but she hadn't talked that much.

When they arrived at the boarding house, they spotted a few boxes being packed inside. Abby spotted the moving van, and ran up to it. "Hey it looks like mom's here." She grabbed a box, and it was very heavy looking. "Hey guys. Would you like to help me with the packing if you don't mind?" Arnold and Gerald looked at each other for a second wondering if the other didn't mind. Gerald grabbed a heavy box, while Arnold grabbed the other end. Abby was headed in, and opened the door. She almost lost her balance, but somebody caught the other side. "Oh here I will get the box's other end for you." On the other side was a helping hand. She looked up to see a Vietnamese man, with glasses. She looked at him, and smiled. He smiled back, and spoke up. "Would you like some help little girl?" She smiled widely, and nodded. They walked in and put the box in the foyer.

On the couch, Abby noticed a rather elderly man. She also noticed her mother sitting on the sofa, talking to him. She remembered that Arnold claimed that his grandparents owned the boarding house. "So you're interested in renting a room are you?" She assumed that this man was Arnolds grandfather.

The young mother nodded once. "Yes that is correct, sir." Arnold came into the room, and saw the woman who he had assumed was Abby's mother. Well, if what Arnold guessed was correct then Abby was right. This woman was the splitting image of Abby, granted being much older. Still you would have thought they were sisters.

Arnold's grandfather chuckled a bit. "Oh you're gunna love it here." He looked into the entrance of the foyer, and saw abbigale standing there. "Oh this must be the little girl you told me about. Well, isn't she just precious." He said leaning in to ruffle her hair. She got red, and smiled up to the man that owned the boarding house. She stood a bit closer to her mother. "Why, she's such a little thing. How old is this young lady." He said with a smile.

Arnold walked in, and stood next to his grandpa Phil. "She's nine, grandpa. Oh! Plus she's in the same classroom that I'm in." Arnold smiled.

Arnold's grandpa laughed heartedly. "Well, isn't that precious. Your shorter than the shortman. I guess that makes you the shortgirl."


	3. Dinner with the boarders

Stinky doesn't know ch. 3

by

Mastermindhunter

That evening everyone in the boarding house came down for dinner. It was a very tastefull fried chicken dinner, made by Arnold's grandmother. It was finally a chance to have Abby introduce herself to the boarders. She was a bit shy, but at least knew a few. She walked downstairs and sat with her mother. She got a room upstairs which held a Murphy bed. It was the best room that they could get on such short notice. Arnold told her earlier that evening, that his friends Rhonda, and Gerald had stayed in the room a few times themselves. It was a bit small, but the boarding house had plenty of space in the parlor downstairs. Abby didn't need too much room, granted her and her mother were the only two needing the room. The boarders were talking amungst themselves at the table, and everyone turned when they saw the two newest boarders. Abby and her mother stood in the door frame.

"Well there's our newest boarders. Come on in. We saved two seats just for you two." Arnold's Grandpa said.

"Why thank you." Abby's mother chuckled lightly. Abby sat next to Arnold, as Abby's mother sat next to Mr. Hyunh. Everyone dug in, as Abby and her mother made their plate. "Wow this chicken is splendid." Abby's mother smiled at the taste. When Arnold looked over at Abby's mother, she had a scar that went from her left nostril straight down her lip. It looked sort of odd. It wasn't too noticable, but made her lip look ever so slightly crooked.

He leaned over to Abby, and asked really quietly. She looked over at him, as he whispered. "Hey, what is that on your mothers lip?" Abby looked at her mother. She looked at it as if there was nothing there. She shook her head and shrugged. Arnold tried to rephrase. "I mean is that a scar? It goes from her left nostril down to her lip." Abby looked as if she was a bit confused. Then her face turned into one of understanding.

"Oh that." She whispered. "Yeah, my mom was born with a cleft lip." She said holding a finger up to her lip. "It's where your lip sort of looks like this, when your born." She pulled her lip up in an akward looking way. Luckily her mother wasn't turned their way, to see that they were discussing it. "When she was a newborn it was that way, but they fixed it up. Don't worry. Within a few weeks you'll barely even notice it. It will practically dissappear from your sight." Arnold wasn't so sure. She might have just not noticed, because she lived with her, her whole life, and was just used to it. When Abby returned to her plate, Arnold was listening to Abby's mother talking with the boarders.

Ernie was the first to make small talk. "So what's your name miss?"

Abby's mother smiled toward the table that was curious of her name. "My name is Gloria. Gloria Ashby." She said to everyone. She looked down at her daughter, ready to introduce her as well. "This here is my daughter, Abbigale." Abby smiled to everyone at the table. Everybody said hello to her. She blushed darkly, and looked down at her food holding her smile.

Mr. Hyunh looked over at the two newest members of the boarding house. "Gloria and Abbigale. Those are very pretty names. A very pretty name for a very pretty little girl." He said warmly to Abby. "She is a very beautifull young lady. She look just like her mother." He said to Gloria. Gloria smiled and sipped her water. Arnold liked the fact that Mr. Hyunh was making friends with the newest members of the boarding house. He seemed very interested in the two.

The rest of the dinner had gone as planned. The boarders continued to make small talk with Gloria. Arnold loved knowing that the boarding house accepted Abby and her mother. Arnold noticed that Oskar was making a suspicious face at Abby. He apparently didn't like her that much. "Hey Gloria. I noticed that your daughter has not talked at all since she got here. It sort of freaks me out."

Suzie looked at her husband appauled at what he said. "Oskar."

Oskar shrugged not knowing what he did wrong. "What? It's so very weird. What kind of little girl can keep her mouth shut for so long?"

Arnold's grandpa interviened. "Maybe you should keep your big mouth shut, Kokoshka!."

Mr. Hyunh agreed. "He is right Oskar. The little girl, Abbigale can be quiet if she want to. Mind your own business." He lashed out across the table.

Suzie agreed. "Yes. Oskar. Don't be so rude to our newest boarders."

Abby raised her hand slightly. "No. It's alright. I apoligize for my rudeness. I guess I'm just a bit shy." She admitted. She was very shy as Arnold could tell, when he first met her. Still as shy as she was, she seemed to open up to certain people such as Stinky and for example, as well as himself. She had been quiet for the rest of dinner. Suddenly her mother pointed at the clock on the wall. Abby looked at the clock, and she looked at her mother as if she was a bit annoyed by the time.

"Sorry everyone, but I'll be right back." Gloria said they both walked out of the dining room, and left everyone confused.

As soon as they left the room, Oscar reached for their discarded dinner plates. "If you all are so bothered by your dinner, then I will take it for you eh he he he."

Arnold's grandpa pulled their plates back to their seats. "The ladies told you they would be right back, not to please eat their food while their back is turned, you weasel!" He shot toward the bum.

Arnold thought that was a bit odd.

Abby was always quiet. She barely ever said anything about herself. Not only that, but she often stared at nothing in particular. She was talking to the nurse on the first day of school, and now this? If he was going to live with her under the same roof, then he had to know what was wrong with her. He turned towards his grandpa. "Umm grandpa I have a bit of a question."

Meanwhile in the rundown single room, her mother was helping her with a medicine bottle. She filled her small glass with water, and was ready to take her pills. They were not necesarrilly her cup of tea. In one swallow she took the pill, and washed it down with the water. When she rinsed out the glass her mother walked out of the room, and she returned the medicine bottle to the dresser in the room. She was about to walk out when she saw Arnold standing in the doorway.

"Hi Abby."

"Oh Arnold. What are you doing up here?"

He slanted his head, wondering why she was hiding her medicine. "I was just wondering if everything was alright."

"Oh everything is perfectly fine. I was just coming up here to take a few aspirin. I have a bit of a headache." She smiled fakely. Arnold knew when she was lying. He coud see it in her eyes. She sat on the murphy bed, so that things wouldn't seem so akward. He got closer to the dresser to look at the medicine. On the bottom it read Carbamazepine. That was something that definitely wasn't headache medicine.

He sat down on the end next to her. "Abby. My grandpa told me that you had an important medical condition with your nervous system. Would you care to talk about it? It might make you feel better if you tell me." He asked courteously. She looked at him as if he was talking nonsense, then she looked down mournfully, and covered her eyes with her hand.

"Alright, Arnold. You caught me. The truth is that I have something called Epilepsy." She said looking down at the floor.

"Epilepsy? What's that?" He said confused. He apparently wasn't aware of what that was.

She looked up to him so she could explain. "It's where you have these things called seizures. I have mainly three kinds. One is called absence seizure. It's sort of when you sort of loose awareness of what's going on. It seems like I'm staring of into space sometimes. You could say I'm sort of disconected for a while." That must have been what was going on when Arnold noticed that she stared off into space. "The other one is called a complex partial seizure. This one is a bit worse. I tend to do dothings that I don't mean to do. Sometimes I pick at my clothes, or tap on tables or things like that. Other times I just have trouble realising where I am. It's no use in asking if I'm okay, because I won't be able to answer. I sort of have trouble seeing how close or far away when this occours. Afterwards I get really confused" He felt like this was something he should have been told about. "The last one is the worst. It's called tonic–clonic seizures. They are the scary ones. When I have these, I tend to suddenly fall to the floor, and my muscles jerk, and I go into convulsions. Sometimes I bite my tongue while this happens. I can't control myself, and I black out." She said embarrased. "Luckily I take pills for those seizures."

Arnold had no idea how important this was. He just thought she was completely normal. "Wow. I had no idea. Does anyone at school know?"

"No, and I don't want them to. Please don't tell Arnold. Promise me you won't tell." She said begging him to keep it a secret. "If anybody knew that I could have a seizure at any moment, they'd laugh at me." She sighed. "I know for one thing that that one kid will. The one with his belly button sticking out, who is kind of on the big side. I know he'll laugh. it just drives away people. That's why we had to close down our farm, and why my dad left. We had to pay for my medication, and couldn't keep the farm gong. My dad thought it was too much responsibility to take care of me, since my condition was diagnosed. So promise you won't tell?" She asked with bright eyes.

"Okay. I won't tell." Arnold agreed "You know. There are a few people that you can tell, so they won't be confused. There are some people at school you can trust." He smiled to her.

Abby looked confused. "Who should I tell?" Who wouldn't be bothered by my condition. Who could I trust?"

Arnold walked over to the door. "Oh I don't know. Maybe Pheobe, or perhaps Gerald, or Sid." He laid a hand on her shoulder. "I don't think you're that much different, you know. You had enough courage to tell me." She smiled, and shrugged.

"You're a bold kid, Arnold." He smirked. As if he hasn't been told that before. He walked over to the door to head to bed. Before he walked out, she asked a very unexpected question. One Arnold had not thought would cross his mind. "Do you think Stinky would still like me?" He turned around and stared at her his eyes wide with surprise.

She looked at him embarrassed by her own question, as she rubbed her elbow. Arnold smiled warmly, and responded. "Of course I do."


End file.
